AROUND THE N.B.A.; From One Commissioner to Another

By Liz Robbins

Published: March 26, 2006

Paul Tagliabue announced last week that he would retire as N.F.L. commissioner after 17 years, leaving a flourishing league and a powerful but understated personal legacy.

At a time when the N.B.A.'s influence reaches around the globe but when the league is still trying to recapture the popularity of the Michael Jordan era in the United States, Commissioner David Stern had high praise for Tagliabue.

''I think the N.F.L. is literally in a class by itself in professional sports around the world,'' Stern said Friday in a brief telephone interview. ''And that's because of its grip on American fans and its importance to American television and its ability to cluster audiences because of its schedule and entertainment value.''

Stern added: ''Paul Tagliabue has brought it to that position and used all the powers at his disposal to bring the union and the owners to a place where they can understand that.''

The N.F.L.'s recent collective bargaining negotiations, which dominated headlines for the same short period as its annual scouting combine, concluded with an efficiency and a low-key drama that seems to have eluded the N.B.A. in its labor talks.

Stern said that he admired Tagliabue's ''persuasive negotiating skills with respect to networks, and his imagination, in particular, with respect to the NFL Network.''

Stern predated Tagliabue, becoming N.B.A. commissioner in 1984, and they grew familiar as their roles and spheres of influence overlapped.

''I've always found him accessible and approachable,'' Stern said.

Although Tagliabue, 65, will retire in July, the ever-optimistic Stern, 63, is not going anywhere anytime soon. He will soon appoint a new deputy commissioner, but with issues like franchise relocation and ebbing television ratings in the United States, his legacy is not yet complete.